32 
waistcoat. I learned at Astracan, from those who were 
best acquainted with the subject, that the lamb grows 
upon a stalk three feet high ; that it turns itself round 
and bends down to the herbage, which serves for its food. 
They also said, it dries up and pines away when the grass 
fails.” The real fact of the matter is, that when other 
vegetation dies, this plant dies also. The creeping under- 
ground stem or root is covered with yellow down, like wool. 
When these stems, branching in different directions, are 
placed in an inverted position, they resemble the legs, horns, 
body, and tail of a sheep. So much for the Tartarian lamb. 
“ Cradled in snow and fanned by Arctic air, 
Sbines, gentle Barometz, thy golden hair ; 
Rooted in earth each cloven hoof descends, 
And round and round her flexile neck she bends ; 
Crops the grey coral moss and rosy thyme, 
Or laps with hoary tongue the melting rime ; 
Eyes with mute tenderness her distant dam. 
Or seems to bleat a vegetable lamb.” — Darwin. 
This family is divided into two genera. 
Genus 1. 
1. Shield-Ferns. Lastrea. Cover round or kidney-formed, 
having a slit in it, and attached by the inmost point of that 
slit, (sinus.) Side-veins of leaflets distinct after leaving the 
mid-vein. 
Plate I, fig. 6. 
1. Sweet Mountain Fern. Lastrea Montana. He who 
would gather this Fern, must not remain in the lowly val- 
leys, but ascend aloft. It is called Mountain Fern because 
it thrives in more elevated situations. Beyond the regions 
of the Axe, at Fingal Bridge in Dartmoor, it thickly lines a 
rippling stream and greatly tends to beautify the scenery. 
At Lynmouth, too, that most lovely spot in North Devon, 
when we have wended our way to Watersmeet, we behold 
this odoriferous Fern in the greatest profusion. It is rather 
a scarce plant in our district. When gently squeezed, a 
sweet fragrance issues forth from the numerous glands on 
the under surface, and hence the name. With regard to 
the covers of the fruit, they are not often seen, or rather it 
